For the second time in a year, the Obama administration has backtracked on its requirement to make religious institutions pay for contraception.

A new policy announced Friday further expanded the exemption to Obamacare: Women will still be able to get the same health benefits, but certain religious employers won’t have to pay for them. Instead, institutions that insure themselves can use a third-party to find a separate health insurance plan to pay for and provide the contraceptives.

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Facing outrage from institutions that objected to the contraception requirement on moral grounds, the administration had already exempted some religious institutions — churches were always exempt — from requiring contraception coverage last year. Then, Obama exempted some religiously affiliated institutions, such as evangelical Christian schools or Catholic hospitals, from covering contraception in their plans, forcing insurers to offer free contraception to those employed by them.

Friday’s shift broadened the definition of which groups would be exempt and addressed where the money to pay for the guaranteed coverage would come from so that religious groups wouldn’t be paying even indirectly.

The Health and Human Services Department announced the new proposed rule on its website.

The new policy is designed to quell outcry from religious-affiliated institutions, that the Obama administration was making them violate their religious beliefs.

The policy does not address the concerns of private businesses whose owners also object to contraception on religious grounds. Several dozen lawsuits have been filed, and the religious freedom issue is likely to reach the Supreme Court.

“Today, the administration is taking the next step in providing women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “We will continue to work with faith-based organizations, women’s organizations, insurers and others to achieve these goals.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney referred questions to HHS, but said that the president believes that the policy both guarantees contraception for women and respects religious objections.

In outlining the policy last year, Carney said, the president “set two important criteria. One, to ensure that women have access to preventive services like contraception. And that the policy also respects religious beliefs. Those guidelines, those criteria have been followed by the department in promulgating this rule, this proposed rule, and as part of that process there will be more comment that is taken on it.”